Top Two Seeds Advance to Play for 2024 CAC Men’s Soccer Championship
Bellevue University (Nebraska) and Georgia Gwinnett College will play for the 2024 Continental Athletic Conference men's soccer championship after scoring semifinal victories on Monday afternoon at the Grizzly Soccer Complex in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Bellevue, the tournament's top seed, scored a 4-0 victory against No. 4 seed Talladega College (Alabama) in the first semifinal match. Then, No. 2 seed GGC won a 1-0 double overtime thriller against No. 6 seed Florida National University.
The championship match is planned on Wednesday, November 13, at 4 p.m.
Bellevue is the four-time defending tournament champions while GGC will be playing in the conference final for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign.
Here are recaps of Monday's semifinal matches:
Semifinal Match 1: No. 1 Bellevue University 4, No. 4 Talladega College 0
Bellevue University (Nebraska) scored twice in each half to cruise into the tournament final with a 4-0 victory against No. 4 seed Talladega College (Alabama) on Monday morning.
Kyi Nicholson provided the early scoring for the NAIA No. 7-ranked Bruins, finding the back of the net in the eighth minute and again during the 25th minute. He later delivered a pass that created Bellevue's third goal of the match when Edwin Cisneros scored during the 59th minute.
Kevin Becerril capped the scoring for the victors in the 81st minute by tallying his second goal of the season.
Bellevue outshot Talladega by a 19-5 margin, with 12 shots coming in the second half. Jeremiah Hteh led the way for the Bruins with four shot attempts, while Becerrill chipped in three shots.
Taariq Ganga posted the shutout by stopping the lone shot on goal registered by the Tornadoes.
Ivroy Smith recorded 10 saves for Talladega. Offensively, the Tornadoes were paced by Tavar Lawrence with two shot attempts.
Semifinal Match 2: No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett College 1, No. 6 Florida National University 0 (2 OT)
Ciro Damine drilled a volley 15 yards away into the left side of the net in the 102nd minute to lift Georgia Gwinnett College past Florida National University 1-0 in double overtime on Monday afternoon.
Alejandro Contrera delivered a quick pass from the right side of the 18-yard box to Damine, who quickly got a shot past a diving goalkeeper Juan Manual Fermoselle.
Scoring chances were few and far between in the defensive battle in a matchup between the No. 2-seeded Grizzlies and No. 6-seeded Conquistadors. Both teams had five shots during the 90 minutes of regulation.
GGC attempted three shots across the two overtime periods.
Hugo Luengo led the victors with three shots, while Contrera attempted two shots in the match.
Dagoberto Romero posted the shutout in goal and anchored a defensive unit that did not allow a goal on goal for the duration of the match.
Manuel Fermoselle recorded two saves for FNU in the match. Filipe Sette Ribeiro tallied two of the team's five shots.